Local for-profit university pays financial aid fraud settlement

By eCampus News staff and wire reports

April 17th, 2013

A Chula Vista-based for-profit university has agreed to a $686,720 civil settlement over federal financial aid fraud charges, KPBS reports. The school’s former financial aid director pleaded guilty to falsifying student records and could face up to a year of prison time, according to the local U.S. Attorney’s office. Between 2008 and 2011, Christina Miller filed falsified Pell Grant applications for students of United States University, a school with online and in-person programs. Miller pleaded guilty to filing more than $300,000 worth of fraudulent Pell Grant applications on behalf of the school’s students, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio, who handled Miller’s prosecution. The case was unusual for resulting in a civil case against the university as well as criminal charges.